Eclipse
by Cytus Valle
Summary: As the last of the remaining Solari, Leona does not fight as Diana continues to. What becomes of the battle, the Chosen of the Moon must decide whether or not her anguish triumphs over her heart. Leona x Diana


Panic.

Muscles tightening inside her armor, Diana lunged forward with pale light surrounding her figure. Her curved blade struck the shimmer of her enemy's shield, that bounced back the light from her. Temporarily blinded, she was pushed back and staggered before clenching her jaw and striking again. The blade then hit a sword that blocked her attack in perfection, a skill only mastered on Mount Targon.

Diana looked into the eyes of her opponent and saw what she feared most. Understanding. The sun's chosen looked upon her, never revering her sword and shield down for her own protection, only for her safety from the dangerous Lunari. Diana lunged again, drawing the moon's power to her at the same time the sun's crest on the Solari's shield shone with warmth.

"Fight me, Leona!" the Lunari roared. What was this pain in her chest? Diana focused towards striking once more and hearing the clang of two irons. Why wasn't she striking with the same force as before? Here, they were free. A battlefield all to their own, with no rules...no limitations as to how it would end. Leona wouldn't be on the opposing side each time she was killed under the League's arena. Here was the where the rock stood; the place where their ancestors fought. This was where she would end the false Solari once and for all.

"I said FIGHT ME!"

Leona's feet remained firm upon the ground, only shifting by the force of Diana's attacks. The Solari woman was silent, never ceasing her gaze from Diana's cold glare. The warmth was there, she knew. She could not avoid it. Not even once. The Solari was everywhere she went and was never manageable to escape. It was as if they were drawn together; much like the rotations of the night, ever shifting with the balance of the sun.

_Heretic_ they named her. False accusations and a death sentence. Where was the Solari then. Why was she not there as she was now?

The Solari was wrong. They were all wrong.

Leona's voice was surprisingly calm from someone that had to endure so many blows. It held the soft tone that soothed Diana's heart for a moment, as if lifting her weight off of her chest. The sweet melody from her lips was what Diana was forced to oppose. She had to resist Leona. She had to continue the legacy of the Lunari.

Releasing a high pitched cry, Diana tore Leona from her feet in one vicious tackle and the two of them came tumbling off, down the edge of the cliff. A strong grasp took her in mid air; one arm around her waist and the other her back. The shield bumped against the jagged rocks and slid to a halt at the bottom. Diana, troubled by such actions tore from Leona's arms and stared wide eyed at the unmoving bruised Solari. The cuts from the rocks were not deep enough to leave grave injuries but the violet spandex underneath her golden armor was ripped with cuts that displayed bleeding skin. Something held Diana's eyes towards the closed Solari's and from the depths, something ignited as her enemy weakly opened her's.

She could not give in.

Leona was bashed a few feet backward, rolling onto her back while her arms were limp beside her. She breathed heavily, as though suffocating. Diana lost the hold of her clenched face and raised her eyebrows. _No._

Ready to strike again for the final blow, a surge of light ripped through the graying sky, shedding the powerful blinding rays at the Lunari to avoid her from reaching anywhere near Leona. She knew that the other woman wouldn't have forced the sun to act. She was too weak. No...the sun was protecting her. She was its Chosen.

Leona saw this and with a wavering hand, ceased the sun's rays to allow Diana her freedom. The Lunari stumbled back from the blast but re-adjusted herself and saw Leona try to regain her balance. The Solari tried so hard to get back up with her sword as a stabilizer, and the shield to push herself up. Diana saw the raw strength and hated it. How could she be so strong at a moment of weakness?

"Fight me!" Diana cried once more, her voice quaking with overlapping emotion. From a bloody brow, Leona glanced up towards Diana, unhindered by her words. She did not listen and set her eyes to the rocky ground. The Lunari ordered her to strike back. Leona did not move. She only stood there and witnessed the late Solari acolyte crumble.

"You fool! Do not give into your weakness! Attack!"

Taking a deep breath, Leona heaved her words. "No, Diana."

Bam. Leona struck the ground again, leaving her arms underneath her. She stirred before being yanked from the hairs by Diana, whos eyes were painfully swollen. Her teeth grit and the response came as vile. "Don't be weak, just as your ignorant elders were!"

Dropping her enemy, the Lunari stepped around the broken woman, taking in her features. Never -had it not been for the moon- would she have finally defeated the Chosen of the Sun. There she was, finally cowering and torn to shreds by her once admiring...no. Never again. Leona was like the rest of them. Fools. They were all dead for calling her a heretic and now she was to be as well.

"They...were not ignorant..." Leona spoke weakly, pain lingering from her lips. "They were wrong...for opposing such a power we were to have known before. I'm sorry you had to endure such pain from them."

Diana was speechless, her mind deceiving the words being spoken to her.

"I'm sorry...I wasn't there for you. I was blinded...even when you showed me the truth years ago. If I...were to believe it then, none of this would have happened. And...we would have been more than this."

Leona took the time to gather all her remaining strength on her sword, sliding off the heavy shield from her left arm. It would be no use against her opponent, for she was no threat to her anymore. "I will not fight you, Diana. There is no need to battle from the spoils of a dead war."

_No... _

Clang. Leona's golden zenith blade, shimmering and unstained dropped to the floor and was met alongside her shield. She was now completely vulnerable now, only a single strike would kill her.

To prove she was not lying, Leona walked over to Diana fearlessly. Her eyes were darkened but her radiance still glowed. Lowering herself at Diana's feet, the Solari took the blade of her attacker's sword and without hesitation brought the blade to her throat and held it there.

"Do what you wish, Diana. Do not let your efforts be in vain."

The Lunari's hand trembled upon the grip of her sword. This is what she wanted...right? She now had full control. Leona's life was at her hands and she could end it now. The other woman looked to her calmly although in her heart she would be screaming. This was not how a warrior dies. They wouldn't be so willing to die from their enemy's hand even if it were the last option they had.

Leona however was. A valiant warrior she was named when she ascended. Diana saw how honoring she was, even in defeat she was humble. It was as if she had trusted her even at her lowest point. Trusted her_...a Lunari..._with her own life. The ancestors would have frowned upon them. Upon herself. Now was the time to make the last of them fall. Her fingers curled around the blade and she leaned an inch. Leona's eyes were penetrating her own with such a power that only the sun could have achieved. It was daunting to stare, but it felt...so right. Nostalgia filled Diana's soul with memories she had long forgotten. She was still Solari born. Only called a heretic for what she revealed to be later truth. It was only then she received such criticism. To the point of death.

Diana couldn't do it. She just had no willpower. The moon dared not to even shine now, for a black star appeared in the sky around the midst of gray clouds. Thunder echoed through the heavens so distant yet approaching soon. The blade lowered, as did Leona's head. How was she to kill her? The only light in her life. The only source of freedom of her misery. Leona wasn't their because they had drawn her away. She would have protected her and cared for her even if she thought that she was stating falsehood. Leona had questioned her own faith to understand and was willing to sacrifice and trust her own life for her happiness.

"Leona..." Diana's voice trembled. She could feel her forgotten self returning back to her. Warm hands took the sinking Lunari in and comforted her. The embrace was so gentle, despite the wounds from Leona's body that she herself had caused. The touch had triggered her heavy heart to burst and sting her eyes with pain. Diana had forbidden herself to cry for many years but Leona's embrace made her forget the hardened shell she formed. The easing of her loneliness caused Diana's heart to mourn and release her tortured soul in long wails. The Solari remained strong and embraced the broken woman till she was soothed and curled in her comfort.

"Diana...I am sorry for the pain your life has caused you. I...wish there is in anyway I could repay it all back. I would spend the rest of my life gaining it back for you." Leona said, her cheek pressed against her pale forehead. The light of the moon took its course and illuminated the mount they were in, displaying an endless blanket of stars above and throughout the land.

The Lunari's fingers trailed along her breastplate with the symbol of the Solari. Her tips encircled the rims and felt the smooth metal to the edge and lowered again to the engravings and worn out texture of her shoulder armor. How selfless, Diana thought. If only the rest of the world was like her. Lifting her eyes, she met the amber orbs that brought her so much alleviation. She never quite looked at them so closely but she could remember the emotion that kept her searching. It wasn't hunger, but want. She wanted to find Leona and looked to her as a beacon of hope that someone would know her. Now, in this moment, was when they both knew. They were destined to be the opposite; complimenting one another with their balance. The sun and the moon, daylight and moonlight, would never be one without the other.

A single tender touch and Diana felt her warmth. It electrified her like the thunder that billowed above them. Each moment slowing down the course of time, Leona and Diana had made themselves one. They were not rushed, nor too slow. One simply enjoyed the other.

They drew apart, only connected by a thin string, before Diana responded with the first genuine smile Leona was able to see. "Tell me stories of when we were young, back at the temple."

"Well," she started, returning the smile that kindled within each other's presence. "It all started when I met this marvelous young woman, who was always caught reading books and scrolls of ancient times. She was quite the charm and beautiful in her own light..."


End file.
